Open water swimmers are very familiar with the difficulty of breathing without inadvertently swallowing water in turbulent seas or choppy lakes.

In rough water, the waves can come from anywhere anytime. When you turn to breathe, catching an unexpected mouthful of water is frustrating. Small irregular chop, wind-driven turbulence, or large ocean swells can all cause problems, especially while crossing a channel or undertaking a long marathon swim.

But some swimmers have an innate feel, a delicate spacial awareness, and a highly developed proprioception in the aquatic environment. Like having a sixth sense, these swimmers simply do not swallow water – no matter how bumpy and lumpy the conditions become.

They are like experienced artists who know precisely how to hold a paint brush to accomplish certain techniques on a canvas. Like talented painters who how gently to hold a paint brush and how subtly to move the brush, some ocean swimmers innately know how to subtly position their head and place their mouth in wavy water.

How artists hold the brush with their fingers; how artists know where to place their wrist, and how softly or sharply they can move their paint brush to make major changes to their brush strokes, so too can veterans of the Big Blue know how to breathe in the waves by subtly moving their head, neck and mouth.

A millimeter here, a millimeter there, can make a big, big difference.

Photo above shows Tyler Sutton crossing from Anacapa Island to the California mainland in July 2023.

© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming